Why does the follow message keep coming after someone followed?

Before you start

• The follow gate is the switch Ask audience to follow you before sending link! in the post’s Send Link or PDF card (Legend Pro and above). In flows, it’s the Followers only step (Trendsetter and above). In the phone app it’s Follow For Link.
• Test with a second Instagram account, not your own.

Steps

1. Make sure the person taps Started following you! 👍 after following. Following alone does not send the link.
2. If the card comes back, ask them to wait a moment and tap the button again. Instagram can take a little time to report a new follow.
3. Check that they followed your account. Open Profile on the card opens your profile.
4. If they commented again, that comment is checked from the start. A new comment gets a new card if Instagram still says they don’t follow you.
5. In a flow, open the Followers only step and check Follow up after. If they don’t tap the button in time, the reminder step runs, even if they already followed. Shorten or remove the reminder if it confuses people.
6. If it happens to many people who clearly follow you, reconnect your account. In the Need Help? window, More options! → Followers only DM not working? opens the Instagram connect page. If your account uses a Facebook Page connection, reconnect with Connect Instagram via FB Page instead.

On the phone app

The Follow For Link switch is in the post editor (Home → Instagram → Posts → tap the post → Send Link or Images). You can edit the Title, Description, Open Profile button and I Followed You button texts. Publish after any change.

What your followers see

1. They comment and get the card ”🔓 Follow to Unlock Exclusive Content” with Open Profile and Started following you! 👍.
2. They follow you and tap Started following you! 👍.
3. If Instagram now reports the follow, they get your link. If not, they get the same card again.

Good to know

• There is no limit on retries, and no different message for the second try.
• If Instagram can’t answer the follow check at all (for example when it is busy), the person is treated as a follower and gets the content.
• In rare cases, an error from Instagram’s check counts as “not following” even for a follower. Ask them to tap the button again a little later.
• You can change the card’s title, description and button texts. Tap the text in the gate card to edit it.

What you can’t do

• Set a maximum number of retries.
• Send a different message on the second try.
• Use the follow gate on Facebook posts.
• Check how long someone has followed you.

If it doesn’t work

• No one gets the link, even followers: check the connection banner and Global switch, then see why didn’t my automation send a DM?
• You want everyone to get the link: switch the follow gate off and click Publish. Non-followers may then get a public fallback reply instead of a DM. See non-followers.